Unlocking the genetic secrets of Dorper sheep: insights into wool shedding and hair follicle development.

Dorper sheep is popular among farming enterprises with strong adaptability, disease resistance, and roughage tolerance, and an unique characteristic of natural shedding of wool. In a large number of observations on experimental sheep farms, it was found that the wool of some sheep still had not shed after May, thus manual shearing was required. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms of normal hair follicles (HFs) development is crucial to revealing the improvement of sheep wool-related traits and mammalian skin-related traits.

Transcriptomic analysis of regulatory mechanisms in the telogen-anagen transition of ovine hair follicles.

Background: Dorper sheep are celebrated for their fast maturation and superior meat quality, with some shedding their wool each spring. Wool shedding occurs naturally due to the hair follicle (HF) cycle, but its regulatory mechanisms remain unclear and need further investigation.

Results: In this study, shedding and non-shedding sheep were selected from the same Dorper flock.

[Short-term nitrogen addition reduces soil microbial nitrogen fixation rate in subtropical and forests].

Biological nitrogen (N) fixation is an important source of N in terrestrial ecosystems, but the response of soil microbial N fixation rate to N deposition in different forest ecosystems still remains uncertain. We conducted a field N addition experiment to simulate atmosphere N deposition in subtropical and forests. We set up three levels of nitrogen addition using urea as the N source: 0 (control), 40 (low N), and 80 g N·hm·a(high N) to examine the chemical properties, microbial biomass C, enzyme activities, and gene copies of top soils (0-10 cm).

Screening of hair follicle telogen-associated circRNAs in sheep and construction of their ceRNA network.

Sheep breeds with hair-shedding traits have many advantages over non-shedding sheep breeds, not only because of reduced shearing labor and feeding management costs but also because it reduces in vitro parasites and improves adaptability to summer heat stress. The wool of Dorper sheep naturally sheds in spring due to the periodic growth of hair follicles. CircRNAs primarily regulate the morphogenesis of hair follicles through the ceRNA mechanism.

Effect of nitrogen application on greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen uptake by plants in integrated rice-crayfish farming.

Integrated rice-crayfish farming is an ecological rice farming mode. However, limited research has examined the comprehensive impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, nitrogen (N) uptake, and N utilization in rice under this farming modality. Herein, a dual-factor experiment was performed from 2021 to 2022 to assess the comprehensive impacts of N application and rice farming mode on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, N uptake, N utilization, and rice yield in paddy fields.

LncRNAs regulate the cyclic growth and development of hair follicles in Dorper sheep.

Introduction: Hair follicles in Dorper sheep are characterized by seasonal cyclic growth and development, consequently resulting in hair shedding during spring. The cyclic growth and development of hair follicles are regulated by several influencing factors such as photoperiods, hormones, age of the animal, genes, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and signaling pathways.

Methods: In the present study, skin samples of five shedding sheep (S), used as experimental animals, and three non-shedding sheep (N), used as controls, were collected at three time points (September 27, 2019; January 3, 2020; and March 17, 2020) for RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology.

Ultra-low-dose radiotherapy in the treatment of ocular adnexal lymphoma: a prospective study.

Purpose: This single-arm, prospective, exploratory study investigated the effectiveness of ultra-low-dose radiotherapy in the treatment of ocular adnexal lymphoma (OAL).

Patients And Methods: Patients with pathologically confirmed ocular adnexal low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma (predominantly mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, MALT or follicular lymphoma) were included and treated with ultra-low-dose radiotherapy consisting of 2 successive fractions of 2 Gy at our institution between 2019 and 2021. Disease response was assessed clinically and radiographically within 4 months and at 3 to 6-month intervals after treatment.

[Effects of nitrogen addition on the kinetic parameters of soil acid phosphomonoesterase in a Moso bamboo forest].

Soil phosphatases are important in the mineralization of organophosphates and in the phosphorus (P) cycle. The kinetic mechanisms of phosphatases in response to nitrogen (N) deposition remain unclear. We carried out a field experiment with four different concentrations of N: 0 g N·hm·a(control), 20 g N·hm·a(low N), 40 g N·hm·a(medium N), and 80 g N·hm·a(high N) in a subtropical Moso bamboo forest.

[Soil enzyme stoichiometry revealed the changes of soil microbial carbon and phosphorus limitation along an elevational gradient in a forest of Wuyi Mountains, Southeast China].

Understanding changes in soil enzyme activities and ecoenzymatic stoichiometry is important for assessing soil nutrient availability and microbial nutrient limitation in mountain ecosystems. However, the variations of soil microbial nutrient limitation across elevational gradients and its driving factors in subtropical mountain forests are still unclear. In this study, we measured soil properties, microbial biomass, and enzyme activities related to carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) cycling in forests at different altitudes of Wuyi Mountains.

Nutrient availability is a dominant predictor of soil bacterial and fungal community composition after nitrogen addition in subtropical acidic forests.

Nutrient addition to forest ecosystems significantly influences belowground microbial diversity, community structure, and ecosystem functioning. Nitrogen (N) addition in forests is common in China, especially in the southeast region. However, the influence of N addition on belowground soil microbial community diversity in subtropical forests remains unclear.

Effects of short-term warming and nitrogen addition on the quantity and quality of dissolved organic matter in a subtropical Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation.

Increasing temperature and nitrogen (N) deposition are two large-scale changes projected to occur over the coming decades. The effects of these changes on dissolved organic matter (DOM) are largely unknown. This study aimed to assess the effects of warming and N addition on the quantity and quality of DOM from a subtropical Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation.

High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging of carotid atherosclerotic plaques - a correlation study with histopathology.

Background: This study aimed to utilize high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate the characteristics of stable and vulnerable carotid arteriosclerotic plaques, with correlations to histopathological findings.

Patients And Methods: High-resolution MRI was performed in 817 patients, using three-dimensional magnetic resonance angiography. Plaque composition was evaluated by measuring the areas occupied by calcification, a lipid-rich necrotic core, intra-plaque haemorrhage, and fibrous cap rupture.

Adiponectin Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Serum Levels Are Relevant to Prognosis of Patients With Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhages.

To investigate the association of adiponectin gene polymorphisms and its levels with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhages (aSAHs) prognosis. This case-control study enrolled 138 patients with aSAH and 102 healthy controls as case group and control group, respectively. Prognosis of case group was evaluated using Glasgow Outcome Scale.

Comparison of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging with T2-weighted imaging for preoperative staging of early endometrial carcinoma.

Purpose: This study aimed to compare dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) with T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) for the preoperative staging of early endometrial carcinoma.

Methods: This retrospective study included 22 subjects with early endometrial carcinoma who underwent 3.0 T MRI examination prior to hysterectomy.

[Technique of radiologic measurements for the inner ear structures using computed tomography].

Objective: The aim of this study was to find an accurate and feasible measurement technique for the inner ear structures using computed tomography and to check the inter-observer agreement

Methods: Sixty patients without abnormal structure of temporal bones confirmed by means of high-resolution computed tomography were included in this study. The multi-planar reformations (MPR) were performed to show the maximum profile of cochlear, and to measure the height and width of cochlear. Areas of bony island encircled by three semicircular canals were measured on the MPR images that could show the whole canal.

[Effects of foliage spraying sodium bisulfite on photosynthetic physiological characteristics of Citrus sinensis with sulphur deficiency].

The study with solution culture showed that Citrus sinensis plants with sulphur deficiency and with sulphur deficiency plus foliage spraying sodium bisulfite ( NaHSO3 ) halfway had notably decreased photosynthetic pigment content, soluble protein content, net photosynthetic rate (Pn), initial fluorescence (Fo) , maximum fluorescence (Fm) , photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm) and electron transmit rate (ETR) , compared with those having normal sulphur supply. After 35 days of growth, their photosynthetic pigment content decreased by 23. 45% and 11.